My Keepsake produced it’s first apples last fall. My wife and I both loved them and wished we had more. We both said that we preferred them to Honeycrisp. I wouldn’t call them ugly apples, but could understand why they wouldn’t be big sellers in a grocery store.
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I always like this time of year when you can see that some varieties are going to bloom for the first time. I have learned to leaven my enthusiasm if there are only a few buds, but if there are a lot then I am pretty sure I will be able to get fruits. This year there are about a dozen new ones. It is particularly gratifying for pears I have had for 12+ years to see blossoms on them for the first time.
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I found a late request yesterday (Sunday, 5 March) for Médaille d’Or scions. Ran out back to see if it had enough twigs to spare and it appears it had five fruit spurs, still sleepy. This will be only its third leaf since I bought the whip from Cummins! If so, will try to get you a photo. Who knew?
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I don’t care at all how an apple looks, even how big it is unless that affects how it can be used… Taste? uses? ease of growing? Those are my concerns.
Since Keepsake is the seed parent of Honeycrisp (don’t you love the fact that the breeders at U of Minn wanted to cross with Keepsake and a pollen grain slipped past their procedures? The pollen came from an undocumented apple - no DNA profile to draw from.) it is a valid comparison. Ever since I first read about Keepsake it has been a contender for my yard, but not a first line item.
After trying several English apples and learning most Brits cannot handle near-desert conditions in Spokann (how it sounds), I’m trying more apples from this continent and mainland Europe. Keepsake seems to be strong enough to become the backbone of my apple list, along with Bardsey, of all things.
Bardsey is one apple coming from Britain (Wales) that has proven drought tolerant, healthy and productive. Not to forget, good!
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Scott,
With irrational exuberance, I’m gonna go ahead and count my chickens before they hatch.
I walked the orchard and inspected every tree this week. Here are the varieties exhibiting spurs and flower buds. An asterisk indicates this would be my first taste of that cultivar. I would be thrilled if only a fraction of these actually produce mature fruit this year:
APPLES
Magnum Bonum*
Williams’ Pride*
Lodi
Cherryville Black (your scion!)*
Goldrush (on EMLA.111)
Goldrush (on G.935)
Honeycrisp
Roxbury Russet
Esopus Spitzenburg*
Carolina Red June*
Maslin Pink Lady
Stayman Winesap
Myers’ Royal Limbertwig*
Red Gravenstein
Newtown Pippin
Ginger Gold
Rubinette (your scion!)*
PEARS
Harrow Sweet*
Fondant de Moulin-Lille*
Tyson*
Worden*
Harrow Delight
Magness (on OHxF.333)
PEACHES
Harrow Diamond*
Gold Dust*
Redhaven
O’Henry*
Baby Crawford
Loring
Blushingstar
White Lady
CHERRIES
Black Tartarian*
Blackpearl*
Sam*
Whitegold
Blackgold*
Craig’s Crimson*
Royal Rainier*
PLUMS
Santa Rosa
BLUEBERRIES
Climax
Ochlockonee
Northblue
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I hope you’ll keep us informed of your test results! It seems a lot (but not all, of course) of the mainland European apples are ignored over here when they might have a better chance of succeeding in the variable US climate than the popular English apples.
Matt,
Don’t you need another plum tree to cross pollinate your Santa Rosa or are you planning to do multi-grafts on it?
Tony
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I have other plums planted. But at this point, they have not exhibited noticable flower buds yet.
So my Santa Rosa might flower all alone this year-- jeopardizing its ability to fruit.
Your enthusiasm is infectious. I’m going to have to ask you to tone it down. (jk) 
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Matt, I just ate my second Es. Spitz. a week or so ago. You probably know already, but if not, wait to try it until its been stored a while. My first was just picked and it did not impress favorably. This one - well, now!
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It has taken some years for me to swerve away from the exuberant press about English apples and try more mainland European and American cvs.
Spokann (why do we spell it another way?) is quite dry in summer. 15% humidity common. Want to try Glockenapfel!
Thank you for the encouragement.
Only hours after making the comment about the mystery pollen parent of Honeycrisp, Nicholas Howard posted on FB NAFEX an e-article by Nature.com about DNA analysis and the subsequent sleuthing to deduce that parent.
MN1627 was the product of a cross of the ubiquitous Golden Delicious and Duchess of Oldenburg. The research did not seek markers for which was seed parent, but these were the two. MN1627 is no longer extant anywhere, according to U of Minn, and as of the posting, Apparently the U has contacted everyone who obtained MN1627 from them and no one indicates it is still living anywhere.
Duchess of Oldenburg gets some respect.
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Cool! So Honeycrisp has grandparents Northern Spy, Duchess of Oldenburg, Golden Delicious and Frostbite - 3/4ths famous.
Yeah, and D/O figures twice in lineage for Honeycrisp. It is one of the parents of Frostbite, which was known as MN447 (1921!) until its release in 2008.
One wonders if D/O will come into greater use for apple breeding as a direct consequence.
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Keepsake is one of the parents of Honeycrisp. The other was unknown… until now. Apparently, it is this mystery apple, MN1627.
Keepsake resulted from a cross of Frostbite and Northern Spy.
So Honeycrisp’s parents are Keepsake and MN1627.
And its grandparents are as you describe: Northern Spy, Duchess of Oldenburg, Golden Delicious, and Frostbite.
@NuttingBumpus-- Can you provide a link to the article? Most interesting.
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Yes, that’s the one. Difficult to decipher but the conclusion clear enough.
I’m starting to wonder if these sellers don’t notify the public of the patent expiration in order to keep selling more trees!
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Well, they don’t need or are obligated in any way to inform the public, Rob 
Patents on plants all last the same length of time, so if you know when it was issued, you’ll know when it’s off patent. Just about like anything else that is protected by a patent.
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